Amy Schumer.

Outside of Joe’s Pub last Wednesday night, a line stood dozens deep as savvy comedy fans and plaid-shirted beardos waited to see if they’d make the cut. Inside, black-clad waitresses tended to the booths and tables. Stagehands hustled to prepare the room. And somewhere in the wings, Amy Schumer waited to take the stage, possibly sweating.

The Transom found a vacant stool by the bar, alongside indie filmmaker and Brooklyn resident Jim Strouse, huddled around a pint of Smuttynose and trying his best to avoid confrontation with the theater techs and Comedy Central cretins that barked orders and directed traffic every which way. Why was everyone so angry, we wondered. Mr. Strouse had no answers.

“I don’t know anything about this,” he said.

What we did know: Ms. Schumer, a 31-year-old actress and comedienne, is a rising star in the world of setups and punch lines, having capitalized on her breakout performance at the Comedy Central Roast of Charlie Sheen in late 2011. Last year, she appeared on Louie, a coup for any New York comic, and she will reportedly pop up on the current season of Girls. This spring, she hopes to grow her audience even more when her new show, Inside Amy Schumer, premieres on Comedy Central. Hence the hoopla. Because on this particular night, Ms. Schumer was to film the stand-up segments that will serve as interstitials between the program’s sketch scenes.

And soon enough, the woman of the hour graced the stage, dressed in a black mini-sweater
dress and matching thigh-highs—a look Howard Stern has told the comedienne he finds particularly, if curiously, sexy.

“Am I sweating? Feel like I’m sweating,” Ms. Schumer said, her set underway, complaining about the thickness of her Spanx. “Can you call them Spanx if they’re made of metal?”

As a performer, Ms. Schumer radiates a sort of wide-eyed joy. She doesn’t shy away from sexual or scatological topics, or from the occasional self-effacing barb. Her laugh lines are all the more biting for the package from whence they come: a bubbly blonde with an effervescent smile. She’s like a joke-telling Tracy Flick, without the crazy.

If Wednesday night’s set was any indication, fans will be pleased to learn that Inside Amy Schumer will deliver the same mix of sexual vulgarities, comic rope-a-dopes and off-balance irreverence that Ms. Schumer has always provided, from 2007’s Last Comic Standing to last year’s standup special, Mostly Sex Stuff. Male orgasm faces? Check. The size of her vagina? Double check. How all women have been a little raped? And how.

Fans will also be pleased to learn that she absolutely killed, pumping the brakes only occasionally on her rapid-fire funny, and then only for a bit of crowd work. One young man with a lumberjack beard and a polka-dot hoodie was squarely in her crosshairs, but Ms. Schumer also took the time to ask another front-rower whether she thought the Holocaust happened.

“Me too,” Ms. Schumer nodded. “I’m a believer.”

By the end of the set, Ms. Schumer was fielding some questions herself. One audience member wondered if she is related to Senator Chuck Schumer. Her answer: “Only when I’m arrested for shoplifting.” (Her father and the senator are indeed cousins.)

Another wondered, how big is too big? To which she replied, “We covered that.”

And finally, a fan wanted to know if she could have a picture with the star of the show? “I’ll get you on the way out,” Ms. Schumer smiled, ever accommodating. “But I hope you like sweat.”

Have you seen this man?

Louis C.K. might play a downtrodden pervert on TV, but does that make him one in real life as well? According to a group of fliers found in California, Mr. C.K. might be even worse than an average Joe Jack-Off: His photo has been connected on the posters to a suspected peeping tom.

But maybe it's just great viral marketing?

Full posters:

Have you seen this man?

So far, the police haven't commented on the validity of these signs, which put the comedian's address at Park 21752 on the Pacific Coast Highway. The picture was first discovered by resident Jacqueline Rivas, who posted the pics to her Twitter account and claims to have had nothing to do with the signs' creation.

Still, it seems unlikely to be the Louie star: though he is on hiatus and can certainly afford a green mobile home, we doubt that the self-described gym-hater would be seen "traveling by skateboard or bicycle."

As for the viral marketing angle, it seems unlikely, seeing as Louis C.K.'s latest round of tours is only bringing him to California for one engagement, in Sacramento in February.

The Observer has reached out to Louis C.K.'s publicist but has yet to receive a response.

The previously announced Anger Management was one of a very few new shows FX was promoting (others included late night shows backed by the talent of Chris Rock and Russell Brand, and The Americans, a spy drama starring Keri Russell). The evening was more a celebration of a successful year than a presentation of new programming, as FX promoted its vast library of popular films--including the yet-to-be-released Battleship, Prometheus, Men in Black 3, and The Avengers--and the critical and commercial success of shows like Louie, American Horror Story, and Sons of Anarchy. "I want to take a bit of a victory lap," said Lou Latorre, the president of ad sales, noting that it had been their top year for business ever.

One piece of news they didn't announce: the curmudgeonly comedian Louis C.K. is bringing his web comedy special Live at the Beacon Theater to FX at an undisclosed time in the future. "What am I going to do, put it on Showtime?" he asked us. "I feel loyalty to FX. And they're going to air it as a commercial, sort of, for the site [where fans can buy the special].

"FX will give me the leeway--you can say 'shit' and 'asshole,' and you can't say that on Comedy Central. You just can't say 'fuck,' and there aren't that many 'fucks' in this." He was interrupted by the actress Aisha Tyler, who thanked him for self-producing his special and selling it himself: "Everyone's going to copy you now!" Indeed, Mr. C.K.'s success on the web had been seen as an epochal moment for comedians who wanted or needed to work outside the TV box.

John Landgraf, president of FX, confirmed the future airing of what had been a web-only special, noting, "It doesn't qualify for an Emmy unless it airs." As for the big media story of the cable scene--TBS's success with reruns of The Big Bang Theory, Mr. Landgraf noted, "We tried to buy Big Bang, we tried to buy Modern Family [which was bought by USA]. We would have bought them for the right price."

Mr. Brochstein was less sanguine. "Big Bang, they're going to burn it out. If you don't like Big Bang, you're not watching TBS. It's a frequency play." As for a network that prides itself on premium movie content losing the rights for The Hunger Games to ABC Family, the ad sales chief told us: "It was stupid money they spent."

Finally we asked: was Charlie Sheen, who'd missed the introduction of all the network's stars ("I'm sure he's en route," said Mr. Landgraf at the time, and indeed he walked the red carpet last), ready to return to TV? "He's ready like nobody's business."